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In this photo released by Roscosmos, NASA Astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin pose for a photo in Baikonur, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, after an emergency landing following the failure of a Russian booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station. (Roscosmos via AP)

US, Russian crew in Russian space center after failed launch

October 12, 2018 - 11:00 am

The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. astronaut and his Russian crewmate arrived Friday at the Russian space center for medical checks following a failed launch that led to an emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin jettisoned in a rescue capsule from their Soyuz rocket that failed two minutes after Thursday' launch from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station.

U.S. and Russian space officials said the astronauts were in good condition even though they experienced a gravitational force that was six-to-seven times more than is felt on Earth when their capsule went into a steep, harrowing fall back to ground.

NASA chief Jim Bridenstine told reporters in Moscow Friday that the emergency rescue system worked flawlessly.

"I just want to say how grateful we are as a country, the United States, for our Russian partners," he said. "The crew was calm and collected the entire time."

Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin promised that Hague and Ovchinin will be given a chance soon to perform a stint on the orbiting outpost.

"The boys will certainly fly their mission," Rogozin tweeted, posting a picture in which he sits with the two astronauts aboard a Moscow-bound plane. "We plan that they will fly in the spring."

"They are in good health and don't need any medical assistance," said Vyacheslav Rogozhnikov, chief of the Russian Federal Medical and Biological Agency.

The aborted mission dealt another blow to the troubled Russian space program that currently serves as the only way to deliver astronauts to the orbiting outpost.

Sergei Krikalyov, the head of Roscosmos' manned programs, said the launch went awry after one of the rocket's four boosters failed to jettison about two minutes into the flight, damaging the main stage and triggering the emergency landing.

He said a panel of experts is looking into the specific reason that prevented the booster's separation.

"We will need to look and analyze the specific cause — whether it was a cable, a pyro or a nut," he said. "We need more data."

Krikalyov said all Soyuz launches have been suspended pending the investigation. Preliminary findings are expected later this month, Krikalyov said, adding that Roscosmos hopes to be able to sort out the problem and perform the next Soyuz launch in December.

The current space station crew of an American, a Russian and a German was scheduled to return to Earth in December after a six-month mission, and it wasn't immediately clear if their stint in orbit might need to be extended.

A Soyuz capsule attached to the station which they use to ride back to Earth is designed for a 200-day mission, meaning that their stay in orbit could only be extended briefly.

"We don't have an opportunity to extend it for a long time," Krikalyov said.

NASA said flight controllers could operate the space station without anyone on board if the Russian rockets remain grounded.

NASA's Bridenstine voiced hope that the problem that aborted the launch could be solved quickly and the next Soyuz launch may take place in December.

Krikalyov emphasized that Roscosmos will do its best not to leave the orbiting outpost unoccupied.

"The station could fly in an unmanned mode, but will do all we can to avoid it," he said. "The conservation of the station is possible, but it's undesirable."

While the Russian program has been dogged by a string of problems with unmanned launches in recent years, Thursday's incident was the first manned failure since September 1983, when a Soyuz exploded on the launch pad.

Roscosmos pledged to fully share all relevant information with NASA, which pays up to $82 million per Soyuz seat to the space station.

Bridenstine hailed the U.S.-Russian cooperation in space, voicing hope that tensions between Moscow and Washington in other areas wouldn't affect that relationship.

"We can both do more in space together than we can ever do alone," Bridenstine said. "When it comes to space and exploration and discovery and science our two nations have always kept those activities separate from the disputes that we have terrestrially. I anticipate that this relationship will stay strong."